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New GH4 owner needs some guidance

Hello everyone, as the title says I'm a new GHS4 owner, I have done a lot of research with youtube videos and I have set my camera up on several options that someone has mentioned....I'm having a issue with lagging in the video....Here is what I want to accomplish. I'm doing a video of my daughter doing action shots.....we are putting together a recruitment video of her batting, catching, running for college. This is very important to get good video to impress those college coaches. Here is what I have...Gh4, Lumix 45-200mm Lense, Rokinon 24mm T1.5, and another Rokinon that I couldnt tell you what model it is. I have a Sandisk Extreme Pro class 10-U 3, 95mbs....I appreciate any info you can share with me....Thank you and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Re: New GH4 owner needs some guidance

Without more information about how you will produce this video (NLE), or the delivery format you intend use......

- I would pick the Rokinon 24mm T1.5 lens, or possibly the lens "and another Rokinon", if it were a shorter focal length and a relatively fast lens.

- You may want to set the Motion Picture 'Photo Style' to your favorite. For general stuff I usually use 'Natural'. For serious videos I record to an Atomos Ninja Flame using V-LogL, but if you haven't already, I would suggest making some test shots at the field you will use for this video and try out all the 'Photo Style' settings and choose the one that best suits your likes.

- You may want to set the 'Rec Format' for 'MP4' if you are using a consumer grade editor (NLE), or 'MOV' if you have something like Vegas Pro, Final Cut or Premiere Pro. MOV will provide you with the highest quality available from your GH4.

- You may want to set the 'Rec Quality' to 'FHD ALL-I 200M 60P'. This setting should provide the highest quality 1920x1080 High Definition format at 59.94 fps progressive. I would select 59.940 fps over 29.970 or 24p because usually 59,940 fps provides smoother scenes while filming action such as sports batting, catching, running, etc.

- You may want to consider setting 'Exposure Mode' to 'P' for auto exposure of both the iris and shutter. I recommend the 'P' because you stated you are new to the camera. If you are also new to videography, this setting should provide relatively good quality and one less thing to worry about while trying to catch the action of your daughter. On the other hand, if you are familiar with shutter priority mode, you may elect to use 'S' and then manually control the shutter speed. This may be helpful to reduce the Jell-O effect of the CMOS censor while panning on the running shots.

- You may want to manually set the 'ISO'. Without further information I would probably start at ISO 400. Although this is another setting you could leave on 'AUTO'.

In addition to these few settings I have listed, I would do some experimenting before the shoot at the same venue and time of day. For this type of reel, I would most likely select the high noon, 10:00 am through 2:00 pm, to reduce the effect of long shadows. Long shadows on sports activities tend to pull attention off the star performer. long shadows are great for some landscape or historic architecture filming, not so much for this project. You want the star of the production, your daughter, to be the center of attention so I would play the light (time of day) to your advantage. However, if you are also going to include portrait or interview shots, I would use a reflector or portable light to fill the face shadows, regardless of the time of daylight.

To increase the focus on your main subject, I would use depth-of-field (DOF) to permit keeping the subject in focus, while softening the background with the nature blurring of the lens outside of the focus range. This is should be relatively easy for the batting and catching scenes. For the running scenes you may want to increase the depth of field to keep your daughter in focus as she runs from base to base.

I have found test shoots an invaluable tool to become familiar with new equipment and to establish best practices. Experimentation is our friend.

The 60 fps will provide smooth motion enhancing quality of viewing. A fast shutter speed will normally provide sharper images of fast motion. Increasing the ISO to 400, or 800 may be needed to achieve the faster shutter speed. The faster shutter speed may help reduce the Jell-O effect of the CMOS rolling shutter. From this you may see a bit of stutter, which can be reduced in the NLE using a slight amount of blur FX, which also may improve the quality by adding visual smoothness of fast motion.

I don't understand, "I'm having a issue with lagging in the video". Is this when you view it in the GH4. from within an editing program, or on your PC using a video preview application, either before editing or after?

I hope, as a start, this little bit of information is helpful. Please let us know how you are progressing. And also, keep in mind, this is just an opinion from one member. During your quest for the best quality you may find out that different setting apply best for you.

EDIT: I forgot the importance of setting the white balance. Setting the white balance should assure the colors and exposure you see during filming remain true during the edit process. From camera to editor application, the elements of exposure will never be a perfect match, but setting the proper white babalnce will get very close and usually will require the least amount of expousre and color adjust during post production.